Retirement Watch Weekly
Avoiding Social Security Mistakes
We write in Retirement Watch a lot about strategies for claiming Social Security retirement benefits. That’s because you have choices, and married couples have a lot of choices. The difference between the optimum choice and other choices can amount to tens of thousands of dollar or more over your lifetime. Unfortunately, people make a lot […]
Cautions for Bond Buyers
One of my longstanding investment rules is that investors who want to buy individual bonds (instead of bond funds) should buy only treasury bonds and only newly-issued bonds. You also can consider buying tax-exempt bonds if they are new issues. The reason for this recommendation is that the market for individual bonds isn’t nearly as […]
Medicare Prescriptions Receive a Reprieve
A few weeks ago I reported on a proposal by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid to potentially limit some drugs covered by Part D. Briefly, Medicare has six classes of drugs that are protected under the program. If a doctor prescribes a drug in that class, it is considered covered. The agency proposed that […]
Reviewing Stock Market Valuation Indicators
One reason I’ve greatly reduced the time spent listening to the financial cable channels is that guests and hosts make a lot of statements that aren’t backed by or even are contradicted by data. Consider arguments about what influences stock prices. On any day you’ll find a range of people who say stock prices follow […]
Update on the Retirement Crisis
More Americans aren’t financially prepared for retirement. I’m sure that doesn’t come as surprising news to you. But it’s the conclusion from two reports that are updated annually. The Center for Retirement Research at Boston University publishes its National Retirement Risk Index, and the Employee Benefits Research Institute publishes its Retirement Readiness Rating. You can […]
More on the Annuity Puzzle
Economists think everyone should convert most of their retirement nest eggs into annuities and receive a stream of income that’s guaranteed for life. Very few people actually do that. They want to keep control and have the hope of achieving a higher return, even when they don’t invest aggressively or have a good investment track […]
Fixing Social Security Mistakes
Most people start receiving Social Security benefits at the wrong time. Beginning Social Security retirement benefits early can cost you and your family tens of thousands of dollars of income compounded over your lifetimes. A significant percentage begins receiving benefits when they first are eligible at age 62. Only a small percentage waits until age […]
Using Protection Trusts in Your Estate Planning to Help Heirs
“Great Fortunes Lost” was the title of an article in Fortune magazine some years ago. It described how various individuals, usually heirs, lost or squandered very large fortunes. Some of the individuals lost more than money. They lost their health or wasted their lives because of the effects wealth had on them. Many people I […]
